Who are our students?

The St. Mary's curriculum has been used in both classroom
and home-school settings. Most students who have
participated in classes using the St. Mary's curriculum have
autism, but it has also been successfully used with students
with Down syndrome, non-verbal Cerebral Palsy, and
mitochondrial disease. In general, a variety of children who
have not been successful in regular religious education
classes have benefitted from the use of the St. Mary's
curriculum.

Higher-functioning students have also done well with it.
While the curriculum is designed for lower-functioning
students, students with Asperger's syndrome have used it
as a base-line, with teachers elaborating on its concrete
concepts and visual imagery.

Ideas used by teachers with higher-functioning students
have included:

Exploring the meaning of different colors used in the
liturgical year;

Drawing pictures of the Stations of the Cross, and
writing down what the student thought Jesus was
feeling.